Psychology of Mental Health: Exam 1

Psychopathology

scientific study of the field of mental health. often used clinically and with diagnoses

Diagnosis

Application of a classification system

Disorder

a group of symptoms, coupled with functional impairment

Disability

“experienced limitations” -WHO

Disability (Social Model)

results from limitations in the environment, not within the individual

Neurodiversity

many different ways of thinking

Neurodivergent

not diagnosable, but it is a social term. It is a divergent or different way of thinking that is not typical.

Mental Illness

refers to various forms of diagnoses. it is not synonymous with mental disorder

Construct

an ideal or phenomenon. It can be distinguished as either observed or unobserved (latent).

Construct (Example)

looking at observable self-report behaviors to determine underlying laten diagnosis

Functional Impairment

Real world impact of the symptoms

Incidence

how many new cases of something in a set of time

Prevalence

How many cases are there in a period of time? This is the base rate.

Comorbidity

two or more constructs or diagnoses that occur in an individual

APA vs APA

American Psychological Association vs American Psychiatric Association

DSM

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

ICD

International Classification of Diseases

HiTOP

Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology

RDoC

Research Domain Criteria  

What is health according to the WHO?

Health is complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease.

How do Huber et al. conceptualize health?

Health is the ability to adapt and self-manage when facing challenges.

How do Krahn et al. conceptualize health?

Health is a dynamic balance of physical, mental, social, and existential well-being.

What is mental health?

Mental and emotional well-being and the ability to cope, adapt, and function.

Why isn't mental health simply the absence of mental illness?

A person can have mental illness and still have good mental health, or have no mental illness but poor mental health.

What is the dual-continuum model?

Mental illness and mental health are separate dimensions that can vary independently.

What is psychopathology?

The scientific study of mental disorders, including symptoms, causes, development, diagnosis, and treatment.

What is a diagnosis?

A classification of a mental disorder based on specific symptoms and criteria.

What is a construct?

An abstract concept that cannot be directly observed but can be studied through observable characteristics.

What is functional impairment?

When psychological symptoms interfere with work, school, relationships, or daily life.

What is comorbidity?

When a person has multiple diagnoses or psychological problems at the same time.

What is heterogeneity?

Differences in symptoms or experiences among people with the same diagnosis.

What is reification?

Treating a diagnostic category as if it were a real, concrete thing.

What is a categorical approach?

A person either meets criteria for a disorder or does not.

What is a dimensional approach?

Psychological symptoms exist on a continuum of severity.

What is a descriptive approach?

It focuses on what symptoms a person has.

What is an etiological approach?

It focuses on the causes and underlying mechanisms of psychological problems.

Why are categorical approaches criticized?

They have problems with comorbidity, heterogeneity, artificial boundaries, dimensionality, and incomplete symptom coverage.

What does DSM stand for?

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Who develops the DSM?

The American Psychiatric Association (APA).

What is the main purpose of the DSM?

To classify and diagnose mental disorders using standardized criteria.

What does ICD stand for?

International Classification of Diseases.

Who develops the ICD?

The World Health Organization (WHO).

Why is the ICD important globally?

It is an international health classification system used for clinical care, public health, and research.

How are the DSM and ICD similar?

Both are primarily categorical and descriptive classification systems.

How do the DSM and ICD differ?

The DSM is developed by the APA, while the ICD is developed by the WHO and has a broader global and cross-cultural focus.

What does HiTOP stand for?

Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology.

Why was HiTOP developed?

To create a more dimensional and empirically based way to organize psychopathology.

What problems does HiTOP address?

Comorbidity, heterogeneity, artificial diagnostic boundaries, and dimensionality.

What does dimensional mean in HiTOP?

Psychopathology exists on a continuum rather than being simply present or absent.

What does hierarchical mean in HiTOP?

Psychopathology is organized at multiple levels from specific symptoms to broader dimensions.

What is the p-factor?

A broad dimension representing general psychopathology across different psychological problems.

What levels can HiTOP examine?

Symptoms, components, syndromes, spectra, and the p-factor.

Why is heterogeneity a problem?

People with the same diagnosis can have very different symptoms and underlying problems.

How does HiTOP address heterogeneity?

It examines specific symptom profiles and dimensions rather than putting everyone into one category.

Can HiTOP be used with people without diagnoses?

Yes, because it measures psychopathology dimensionally without requiring a diagnosis.

Does HiTOP create entirely new clinical phenomena?

No, it reorganizes existing clinical phenomena based on empirical relationships.

How can researchers use HiTOP?

To study symptoms, dimensions, comorbidity, risk factors, and treatment outcomes.

What does RDoC stand for?

Research Domain Criteria.

Who developed RDoC?

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

What is the primary goal of RDoC?

To understand the biological, psychological, and behavioral mechanisms underlying psychopathology.

How does RDoC differ from HiTOP?

HiTOP focuses on the structure and dimensions of psychopathology, while RDoC focuses on underlying mechanisms.

What does etiological or mechanistic mean?

Studying why something occurs and the processes that contribute to it.

How can RDoC and DSM/ICD complement each other?

DSM/ICD provide diagnoses and communication, while RDoC helps study underlying mechanisms.

What is the systems perspective?

It views psychopathology as resulting from interactions among biological, psychological, social, cultural, environmental, and interpersonal factors.

What is a network approach?

It views psychological problems as a network of interacting symptoms rather than one underlying disorder.

How can symptoms influence one another?

One symptom can trigger, reinforce, or maintain another symptom.

What is PBT?

Process-Based Therapy.

What does PBT focus on?

Psychological processes that contribute to and maintain a person's problems.

Why does PBT emphasize within-person change?

Because different people may have different processes maintaining similar problems.

What is a nomothetic approach?

Studying differences and general patterns between people.

What is an idiographic approach?

Studying patterns and changes within an individual.

What is an RCT?

A Randomized Controlled Trial that randomly assigns participants to conditions to test an intervention or manipulation.

What is random assignment?

Randomly placing participants into different experimental conditions.

What is random selection?

Randomly selecting participants from a larger population.

Why does random assignment improve internal validity?

It makes groups more similar and reduces alternative explanations for differences.

Why doesn't random assignment automatically improve external validity?

It does not ensure that the sample represents the larger population.

What is an independent variable?

The variable the researcher manipulates or changes.

What is a dependent variable?

The outcome the researcher measures.

What is manipulation?

Deliberately changing or controlling the independent variable.

What is a control condition?

A comparison condition that does not receive the experimental manipulation.

What is the placebo effect?

Changes in outcomes caused by expectations or beliefs about receiving treatment.

What is internal validity?

How confident we can be that the independent variable caused the observed outcome.

What is external validity?

How well study findings generalize to other people, settings, or situations.